Selling
is the best and worst of your photography business. It is best because
it gets you the work. It is the worst because it hurts! The good news
is that to get the work without the hurt you can learn to get appointments,
convince a client to give you a job, do your follow up. These are all
verbal "selling" techniques with your clients you are not
comfortable doing. You may have the greatest portfolio or direct mail
campaign, but you will still have to talk to people to sell yourself.
Unfortunately, this is not a skill most photographers learn in school
but it is one of the most important business tools next to your equipment.

The best
education for any kind of selling tool or communication with clients
is to prepare scripts. This is simply a process of writing down the
expected interaction between you and your client. It is a thorough preparation,
just as you would prepare before going out on any photo shoot. Preparing
scripts for your phone calls and meetings in order to get portfolio
appointments and do follow-up is the best place to start.

Start by
writing down the anticipated conversation. Be sure to plan for all variables.
In other words, no matter what a client's response, you have anticipated
it as well as your own reply. Not only will this technique help you
get more out of every call, but you will approach the entire chore of
"selling" with more motivation and inspiration. You will also get better
results and meet more of your sales goals.

Find out
what the photography client does or needs first, and then decide what
you will talk about. Talk food photography to food photography clients,
corporate photography to corporate clients. Clients care only about
what they need!

Open with
a brief and specific introduction of your services. First you get people's
attention, then you tell them what you want. For example, "Hello, we
are interested in the Hyatt Resorts account. I am a lifestyle photographer
and my name is __________ and would like to show our portfolio to you
this week - when would be a good time? "

The key
word here is "when" and gives you and the client more options then if
you had asked the less effective question, "May I come by and show my
lifestyle portfolio?" The quick answer is "No" and does not allow the
client the time to seriously consider your request and their photography
needs.

Come up
with something interesting to say. After all, you are trying to replace
another photographer that the client is secure with. Why should they
switch? For example, "When would you like to see the unique background
techniques we‚re developing?" or "We offer consultations for our clients
that need trade show photography, when would you like to schedule yours?"

Always
use sentences with the open-ended words "How, who, what, when, where
and why" to get information instead of rejection and to reduce the time
you spend on the phone with the client. Be more efficient and eliminate
the rejection that comes with a "NO!" For example, when showing your
portfolio, you can ask these open-ended questions to get information,
confirm the information and verify agreements you have reached.

"How
often do you use a different photographer?"

"What
other photography needs do you have?"

"When
will you be looking at proposals on that job?"

"Who
else in the office buys this kind of photography?"

Learn to
anticipate objections and questions about your photography services
and have very specific information you want to give and get.
NEVER leave contact with a client without achieving some specific objective.
Get an appointment or a piece of information, anything! Successfully
accomplishing your objective makes you successful and keeps you motivated
to do this day after day. For example, when you want more information
for follow-up from the client you can ask,

"When
would be a good time to check back on that job?"

"How
do you feel about a follow-up call in 3 weeks?"

"Who
will have final approval on the photographer?"

"What
would you like to see more of?"

"Who
else in the company works with photographers?"

Don't expect
these new techniques to feel comfortable at first. Anything you do without
lots of experience usually is quite uncomfortable. You will feel like
you are "pushing" yourself but you are not. What you are actually doing
is "pulling" out the information needed to get the work.

Scripts
do not have to be elaborate but they do have to be written with all
possible responses (yours and the photo client) indicated. It is simply
a matter of thinking through what you want to communicate and what you
want to learn from the other person. You will find your communications
and selling not only easier, but also more effective.